Monday, June 28, 2010

Your Turn: Sprint Cup Series From New Hampshire On TNT

The TNT gang covered New Hampshire with one hour of pre-race and then live green to checkers TV.

Lindsay Czarniak anchored the pre-race with Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds. The Pride of NASCAR featured Dale Inman. Czarniak took a ride with Jeff Burton, Wally's World talked flat track and Denny Hamlin was the on-set guest.

The race featured the typical style of flat-track racing that features the inside cars bumping the outside cars under green. The tempers were rising, but the race was less than exciting in terms of content for the TV team.

The normal amount of start and park cars ended the day early, but TNT continued to avoid this issue in much the same manner as the SPEED truck series gang. Pit stop coverage was standard, but green flag stops still throw a wrench into this coverage.

There were no technical problems, the weather was clear and the race ended as scheduled. TNT again left the air prior to the scheduled broadcast time without following up some stories from the race. Those were reported on the NASCAR.com post race show which uses the TNT staff.

This is your opportunity to offer post-race comments on the TV coverage. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

39 comments:

Jonathan
said...

That was one heck of a race! Sucks JJ had to win but its ok I guess. Great great racing all aroun, I like New Hampshire and hope they keep there 2 dates! Awsome I hope the racing brought in some ratings but who knows these days... but I loved it A+ broadcast but one thing I didnt like was commercials commercials commercials doh!

Today was the first time that I watched TNT's RaceBuddy along with “watching” the NASCAR race on RaceView from the NASCAR.com Web site. It was certainly much better than watching it only on the television on delay on DVR. I could choose which NASCAR Sprint Cup driver to follow, and which camera angle out of four on the RaceBuddy site to view. I really enjoyed watching the race on NASCAR’s RaceView and RaceBuddy is my own interactive way of watching the television show “24,” which I know I will miss this coming winter. The television was on, but I decided to watch the race my way. I thought several observations that were strange. I noticed that the 20 second delay from the RaceBuddy to the Racetrack, which allowed me to watch the replay if I wanted on RaceBuddy.

As for the rest of the broadcast, I’m really not into the Pride of NASCAR pre-race segment, though it wasn’t as bad as Fox’s NASCAR coverage on the Slice of Pizzi. The latter was really corny; the former, I’m really not into the past history of NASCAR.

As for the post-race coverage, I was very disappointed that it as short as it was. I thought that it was going to run longer than it did. When I watched the broadcast on TNT on the DVR days later, I wondered how the post-race show on NASCAR.com was. Now, I know and I’m not very impressed.

I'm going to have to break my say down into 3 parts. I have always enjoyed this booth. They missed some things, but to their credit they did not run the "payback" script into the ground regardless of what was happening on the track. I saw Kurt's interview where he was saying media was overdoing the "payback" deal. It was just good hard old-fashion racing at the end. I agree and enjoyed it.I have to give the camera work/production truck a D-. I had so much 1 car, 2 car, in car, bumper cam, etc. from fox that I can't stand it any more!!! Also, they missed too many things that happened on the track. I hope some one in charge goes back and watches the race so they can realize how bad it was!To nascar I give a D. The double file restart and "have at it boys" attitude has made the racing better, but only the last 25 laps were worth watching. Captain Morgan was another example of nascar selling out for the dollar - how cheap was that?

Again TNT dropped the ball with leaving early during the post race coverage. JD, I know you don't have the answer, but I have to ask, why do they do this? And I can't even tell you what show was on for the 10 minutes left. What was the point of that? I did see the post race show on RB. Why couldn't they show that on TV?

I think TNT is too dependent on RB for post race. What about those who don't have a computer? I also noticed that the leader board was out of sync. Race was under yellow and the green light was still on.

Are the TV partners having a contest to see who can show a race the worst? So far TNT and FOX are tied. However, I know BSPN will win this contest.

After TNT left the race they showed 5 minutes of that new show called Bait Car or something like that, then went to commercial. I changed the channel then. It was 5 more minutes to go until the bottom of the hour. I figured they would be showing 5 minutes of commercials.

It would've been nice to know WTF happened to the cars that started 8th and 14th ... why they got lapped so early ... etc ... TNT and PRN are both guilty of that ... I should NOT have to wait til the evening hours when the teams' post race reports come out to find out why the cars turned to pieces of carp ...

Two days in a row, I've turned the channel right as the "winner" crosses the finish line ...

IF a driver that I do NOT like wins the race, I do NOT watch the post-race stuff ... Sometimes, I don't even watch The Speed Report ... I've watched NASCAR Victory Lane a total of 7 times this season and 3 of those were the All-Star / Gatorade Duels / Bud Shootout races ...

I've gotten to the point where I'd rather sleep / play video games / surf the net than watch the races because it's been the same 3 guys all year long who've won ... and the same dozen that they talk about ...

The last two years, I've really liked TNT's coverage. It was a welcome dialing down of the gimmicks and hype from the FOX crew, and a more passionate and friendly feel than the ESPN guys.

But this year - I don't know, it just isn't clicking for me. Wally and Kyle's "oooh oooooooh ooooooooooh" routine is really getting old. The main play-by-play guy is boring as all heck. The camera work lately makes FOX look good by comparison. TNT doesn't come off as pre-scripted-story as ESPN, but they still only really cover about 5-6 drivers and the rest of the field is ignored.

Overall, TNT is kinda like the amateur hour. I am dreading ESPN taking over, but I am not going to miss TNT one bit.

The broadcast was good, not great. I watched via TV only, no RaceBuddy. I really enjoy this booth crew, no "me me me me" attitude we get with Fox. No over talking each other. I was let down on two parts though. Early in the race there was zero pit road coverage, they went to commercial instead. So it took a lot of time for me to learn who took 2 tires, 4 tires, or stayed out. Another time I felt lost was when Montoya and Gordan were mixing it up late in the race in roughly 6ish place. They covered that Montoya might have a left rear cut down. But, he didn't. Then magic happened. Montoya was in 16th place. Just poof, no coverage on why he fell 10 positions.

Kyle bringing up Adam once broke my heart. Kyle going to that track has to be heart wrenching for him. Lets not forget Kenny Irwin either.

Overall the broadcast was good, way better then Fox. But, still could be better. Less in car cam (as one person above said - Fox destroyed anyone's want of seeing it since they abused it).

I hope ESPN is paying attention, and don't turn their portion of the year into a Jimmy Time/Chase Time broadcast again this year. If they do, I fear for the sport.

I disagree with an earlier poster who said "they are not really into the past of NASCAR." WTH? As far as the race itself, I have to give kudos to ANY broadcast team that has to deal with races at Louden, Chicago, Yawnsas,Michigan, and California. Louden should lose BOTH dates. If ever I need to catch up on some sleep, I have five races to watch to do that. Phony debris cautions will always be a thorny issue, but Brian France wants a show, rather than a race. Even Denny Hamlin, among other drivers are tired of this sport turning into the WWF.Commercials are way too often and not spread out.

I hate that TNT keeps leaving before the scheduled end of the broadcast. What is so important that can't wait until the end of the hour or half hour? I understand they go to NASCAR.com, but if I'm still watching the TV, just show me the darn interviews.

Love Racebuddy since I can keep watching the race during the HIGH-LEVEL amount of commercials. It seemed that they were on the 3 minute cycle there for a while. 3 minutes of racing with 3 minutes of commercials - it makes it hard to follow the action. I thought it was a good broadcast by TNT. I like the personalities in the booth and the camera work is generally good.

WOW now that's a race!! I'm not even mad about Jimmie winning again because of the display of driving skills by those up front. That's what I want to see, NASCAR, ya hear?? Driver control of the race.

As for the actual seeing, because the audio was piped in from TNT we again used RaceBuddy 100% to watch the race, along with the scanner. Didn't use radio. Again, we really enjoy the driver introductions!! Did notice a few app glitches this time, but nothing serious, there was plenty of racing to keep an eye on. We were counting commercial breaks from the TV audio cut in & out, sounds like there were bunches of them again. Well, TNT did warn that they have to cram in before the Daytona WideOpen coverage, but it's still a shame to sacrifice quality broadcast of some races for one other. I see that post race was thin on the TV side, not really great via the computer either. Yeah they got the top 5 & even Kyle & Burton, but I thought there was plenty of time for a few more like Hamlin. Sorry but we just don't like Lindsay, and missed most of TNT pre race because of her, watched Raceday instead.

Not interested in the 3D at all, but CAN'T WAIT for the WideOpen coverage of Daytona, wish we could have that all the time, probably will not use RaceBuddy.

The on air coverage was a C. There are still to many commercials and on screen commercials, but I understand that is who pays for it. I think I saw the Leverage commercial around 15 times.

As far as the telecast, I keep on getting lost. When half the field gets lapped, the coverage goes away. I noticed this a couple races ago. They need to tell the viewers what is going on with the wave around deal and how it works. There where guys that were two laps down and finished in the top 15 on the lead lap, just confusing.

I have read the other commentaries and it is sad that you have to watch from a computer to get coverage that should be broadcasted on the TV. Also, I agree that if you aren't in the top ten, you aren't being talked about. They need more coverage and explanations. Why can't we look back at coverage from years ago and take some learning points on how it is done. The people making the broadcast decisions need to take a lesson on history on how it used to be done, when it was done by people in the sport not some person that has never even been to a race.

I still think TNT is doing a better job than FOX. I think talking to all the top 10 drivers after the race would be best, but NASCAR doesn't require them to all stick around and the network only has so many people working at any one time to grab the drivers for comment before they head to the helicopters. (I think they require the top 3 finishers, highest finishing rookie and the points leader to talk to media.) Now, if I can only get Trackpass to work without using Octoshape...

I decided to watch JR (sorry :-)) on HotPass because he was starting so far back. I couldn't do this with FOX because the booth totally overrode the scanner converstation. However on TNT you could listen to the booth for overall race info and still hear the scanner.

Fortunately JR was passing cars all race long to get to a top 10 (always took 4 tires, so no track position gain on tire strategy). So it was fun watching how he was working the racing lines to catch and pass the next car. Oh and by the way, Hotpass showed fastest cars on the track. JR was first a number of times and many times in top 5. Was that info shared about anyone by TNT? Think I heard something once or twice.

Also, on Hotpass they would show biggest movers, so you knew people were passing. Why TNT didn't choose to go back in the field to watch some of the movers is a total mystery to me.

Plus watching JR, I could see other cars making passes in front of him and around him.

I know many don't like JR. I am only using him to illustrate stuff was happening on the track that wasn't just in the top five.

Still like TNT much better than FOX. Pains me to say that because I used to love FOX.

I purposely stayed away from making comments in the live blog yesterday and just watched TNT without RaceBuddy or any other online activity. I have to agree with a couple of other posts that something just seems off with TNT this year.

Last year they were pretty much on target, easily the best effort of the three networks. They do have to deal with some bad tracks but yesterday the camera work was a lot like Fox's. Too much in-car and tight shots. I'm also not sold on Adam Alexander in his role. He's not asking as many questions to set up Kyle and Wally but he doesn't bring any sense of excitement.

The one other thing that really bugs me is the "rum" company stuff. Run ads but enough with the working it in to the race coverage.

TNT is not perfect but it is better than Fox anyday. They cover more drivers than Fox ever does but they could still mention more if they tried more. I have no problem with them cutting out on the post race show because it is over and time to move on. There is always another show out there to listen to other drivers whine or say the same old thing week after week. Considering what they have to look at and make split decisions on to broadcast live, then they do a good job. I like the fact that the agenda is NOT about them or back in the day when DW and Jeff were doing their cheating or gray area stuff. Larry Mac fits in well with the TNT crew. It could always be better, but then so could we at our jobs...B+

For a while, I thought I was watching a Fox race. Early use of gimmick shots, main emphasis on the Top 10 instead of spreading it around like they did in previous races, lead-in plugs for sponsors like Fox, disjointed coverage, the commentary was the only thing that really kept it from being a clone of Fox. Hopefully this was a one time mistake that they can correct before Daytona. Post-race coverage was lacking. Why? There was plenty of time available.

For me, Race Buddy is useless as my TV is in one room and my computer is in another.

Although i disagree with the anon about the in car cameras, i have to disagree with JD for that comment. He had an opinion and expressed it. Simply comparing FOX to TNT is it not ok to like fox? Dont jump down a guys throat theres 2 sides to every story

Geez, what is your damage? I did comment on the race: TOO MUCH IN-CAR CAMERA, much more than FOX. Yet TNT is absolved of any criticism because it's people that the fans like in the booth vs people the fans hate in the booth.

It is really amazing the reception people get when they dare to disagree with the almighty arbiter or broadcasting! I suppose it's only a matter of seconds until these disagreeing posts are deleted and you moderate comments again. You may not have a personal beef with FOX, but you come across that way, especially with that last comment.

You will criticize FOX every Monday, but give TNT a pass every Monday.

There is no way you can say this weekend's telecast was significantly worse than the FOX broadcast. Granted, the RACE was better, but the presentation of that race was NOT.

I mean, are you trying to say TNT is less in the bag for the 48 than FOX? Are you trying to say TNT uses less in-car cam than FOX? Are you trying to say that the announcers are significantly better? Sorry, but to me Kyle Petty has just as many axes to grind as DW, and Wally is every bit the on-air goofball that Larry Mac is.

I'm not saying I'd pick FOX over TNT, per se, I'm just saying: Where are the harranguing columns that point out the flaws of the broadcast? TNT gets a PASS on this blog, and that's a shame.

Um, I *DID* say the TNT in-car cam was too much. And who better to compare it to than the benchmark of too much in-car cam, FOX? You can't evaluate the TNT broadcast in a vacuum - you HAVE to be able to compare it to what others do with the same content.

I was really frustrated when TNT left racing coverage before the scheduled time, and went into the middle of a "cops stopping cars" show. I can understand it when the race runs long, but when it is short?????BUT, my biggest frustration of the day was with the SPEED pre-race shows. I hate it when I'm watching a race live and listening to the radio on a scanner and the "morality delay" is so evident. BUT, what was it with the sound delay on SPEED? Randy Pemberton and Jeff Burton especially - the movement of their lips bore no relationship to the words coming from their mouths. Don't know if was also true during the TNT coverage.

The TNT coverage is just sort of blah to me. I enjoy the Fox coverage because I think it's entertaining and makes me laugh, and I like watching sports to be entertained for a few hours. Fox always delivers with that IMO, but TNT is just really bland. ESPN is bland too. Looking forward to Mike, Larry and DW next year at Speedweeks.